HYC Philadelphia: Having My Eyes Opened

This was my second year doing Philadelphia HOPE Youth Corps and I came out spiritually stronger than before. I prayed a lot before HOPE Youth Corps that I would change and I truly feel as though I did. Going into HYC I was so weak spiritually and I had no idea but after many lessons and deep conversations I came to a realization that I was not doing well spiritually.

A lot of the work we did last year we did again this year, but the only difference was that it had more of an impact on me. Seeing the poverty in Philly was hard for me last year but by the end of the two weeks, I went back to my perfect little word. Coming back to Philly a year later and seeing that a lot of things hadn’t changed it really hit me that my life isn’t normal. As we heard stories at ODAAT (One Day At A Time), one woman said something that really made me reevaluate my relationship with God. She was talking about her life story and stated “Satan looks attractive before he’s destructive”. After she said that I realized that I did not have the same fire for God that I did when I was first baptized. I had let Satan sneak in and make me lose sight on what’s most important, my relationship with God and living my life for him.

After a girls morning devotional about love, many of the girls had shared many deep and heartfelt things. I was so impacted by this small morning devotional that I talked to my site leader and got some help with how I was doing spiritually. I could not be more grateful for her amazing advice and wisdom. A week after we served at ODAAT, we served children of inner city Philadelphia at Camp Miracles. Camp Miracles was a whole new experience for me this year. Coming back and seeing a lot of the same children who were there last year made my heart melt. A lot of the children remembered me which was super encouraging but seeing them live in the same places and not have any improvement in their home life was so sad. You would expect them to be rough around the edges but they were some of the sweetest and kind hearted children I have ever met. I had the privilege of mentoring a nine year old boy who I just fell in love with. He had an amazing personality and was very protective over me. At first I didn’t know how mentoring a boy was going to workout but it worked out perfectly. By the end of the week my mentee and I were both crying. I didn’t want to let him go back but watching him go was the hardest part.

I was so grateful for the opportunity to get to know the Camp Miracles kids because it made me more grateful for what I have and the life I live. I’m not only grateful for Camp Miracles but also my HYC experience as a whole. The impacting lessons, deep conversations and amazing friendships really moved me over two weeks and I can’t wait to see what else God has in store for me for this upcoming school year.